"This work is unlike any other, in its range of rich, conjuring imagery and its dexterity, its smart voice. Carroll-Hackett doesn’t spare us—but doesn’t save us—she draws a blueprint of power and class with her unflinching pivot: matter-of-fact and tender." —Jan Beatty

Archive for June, 2016

“It’s hard to wake up sometimes and look back at your life with clear eyes, isn’t it? All the Hello’s and Goodbye’s, and all the things said and left unsaid, whether they were timely, or easy, or uncomfortable or boltfree, or jarring, or just plain true, at least for you, in the moment of their saying.And once you’re awake you have to listen to the now, or ignore it and pretend that it’s just not there. Tricky stuff for the strongest of us, and hard travelin’ for the tender hearted. Like pilgrims on some dusty trail, the long line of true believers stretches into nothingness, and the shadows of the don’t fit in’s move along like so much smoke, pungent and ethereal, lingering toward home.”~John Little Bear Eaton

Off to Work We Go. For many of us work is a daily destination filled with demands on our time and endless routine. There is little time left for our dreams. But, we all have them. And, for a moment, over a cup of coffee or sandwich from home, we imagine what it would be like to do something else. Something more exciting. Something with a little adventure in it. Write your story within the limits of our contest guidelines (hoops):

DOORKNOBSKieron Devlin, editor
1. Maximum length: 250 words.
2. The sub-theme is: discipline.
3. The year is: 2004.
4. Within the story, you must use this text: sticking to the rules.TAPAS (tiny morsels) Joanne Faries, editor
1. Maximum length: 250 words.
2. The sub-theme is: vacation.
3. Within the story, you must use this bit of text: an embellished resume.
4. Like seasoning, it is language that makes your story unique. Surprise us.

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, two migrant workers, George and his mentally disabled life-long friend Lennie, have come to a ranch in the Salinas Valley to find work in the middle of the Great Depression. George speaks of saving their stake so that they can one day buy a little place of their own where they can live off the fat of the land. The possibility of realizing their dream dissolves entirely when Curley’s wife makes advances on the bear-like Lennie, and horrible consequences ensue. The tragedy reveals the power of friendship and how even the simplest dream can provide hope in the face of desperation.

George’s hands stopped working with the cards. His voice was growing warmer. “An’ we could have a few pigs. I could build a smoke house like the one gran’pa had, an’ when we kill a pig we can smoke the bacon and the hams, and make sausage an’ all like that. An’ when the salmon run up river we could catch a hundred of ‘em an’ salt ‘em down or smoke ‘em. We could have them for breakfast. They ain’t nothing so nice as smoked salmon. When the fruit come in we could can it—and tomatoes, they’re easy to can. Ever’ Sunday we’d kill a chicken or a rabbit. Maybe we’d have a cow or a goat, and the cream is so God damned thick you got to cut it with a knife and take it out with a spoon.”

Write a 450 word story on the theme of work where a dream provides a way to overcome desolation. (Please note word count correction.)CAIRO ROOM
The Cairo Room contains all non-contest and writer’s pool selections under 450 words. From the exotic to the post-modern to hypertext to first time writers, this room welcomes all writers.

General Guidelines:
1. Send your submission by email, please include your name, mailing address, email address, and bio at the beginning of each story; paste your story into the body of your email and send it in rich text form.

2. If you send more than one story (four total), send each story as a separate email.

3. This is important. Put the category DK (Doorknobs), HF (Hayward Fault), DO (Dorsal), TA (Tapas), PB (Planet Betty), CR (Cairo Room), the issue #, and your last name on the subject line. (example: DK, 61, Argure) We use a filter for all email; therefore, if you do not put this information in the subject line, your email will automatically go into trash.

4. Do not send your story in HTML format or as an attachment. If you send your story in HTML format or as an attachment, it will be discarded.

This week’s Monday Must Read is The Missing Museum, winner of the 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize,by Amy King. John Ashbery described Amy’s poems in I Want to Make You Safe(Litmus Press, 2011) as bringing “abstractions to brilliant, jagged life, emerging into rather than out of the busyness of living.” The book was named one of the Boston Globe’s Best Poetry Books of 2011. King is also the author of the poetry collections Slaves To Do These Things(Blazevox, 2009), I’m the Man Who Loves You (Blazevox, 2007), and Antidotes for an Alibi(Blazevox, 2005). Her chapbooks include Kiss Me with the Mouth of Your Country(Dusie Press, 2007), The Good Campaign (2006), The Citizen’s Dilemma (2003), andThe People Instruments (Pavement Saw Press, 2002). Her poems have been nominated for several Pushcart Prizes, and her essays have appeared in Boston Review, Poetry, andThe Rumpus.

She co-edited Poets for Living Waters with Heidi Lynn Staples, co-edited the PEN Poetry Series and Esque Magazine with Ana Bozicevic and, for many years, moderated the Poetics List, sponsored by The Electronic Poetry Center (SUNY-Buffalo/University of Pennsylvania). She has also guest-lectured and conducted workshops at a number of colleges and universities, including Goddard College, Naropa University, RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), San Francisco State University, Slippery Rock University, and, forthcoming this spring, the Center for Women Writers at Salem College.

SunStar Review is currently open for submissions to their Fall 2016 issue.

“We are seeking prose (whether fiction, nonfiction, flash, long, or simply unclassifiable), poetry, visual art, and mixed media work. We love depth and emotional resonance. We appreciate risk taking and ambitiousness—so long as the ambition is earnest. We love work that blends the real and the fantastical. We love experiments with craft. Our journal is also committed to promoting diverse voices and points of view that aren’t well represented in the general literary scene. Thanks for your interest, and we look forward to reading your work!”